


Reyes Takes a Vacation

by bookscape



Category: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Zorro (TV 1957)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-23 20:23:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19708750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookscape/pseuds/bookscape
Summary: Buck Rogers ends up going through a vortex and landing in Spanish California, interrupting a very frightened Corporal Reyes' beach side vacation.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Corporal takes a well deserved vacation at the beach and comes across a bewildered Buck Rogers, who has been accidentally sent to past.

  
**A most  
unlikely pairing of characters from the Buck Rogers and Zorro universes  
creates a scenario that the Pueblo de Los Angeles will not soon  
forget. **

**The characters of Cpl. Reyes, Sgt. Garcia, Diego de la Vega/Zorro, Señorita Bastinada and Don Carlos are all owned by Disney Prod. and Zorro Productions. The characters of Buck Rogers and Wilma Deering are owned by Universal/Dille estate. All are used with my undying thanks and returned in one piece.**

**This story takes place after the events of the 78 Zorro episodes and before the Buck Rogers episode Amazon Women. (Hey, can't help it. Liked the scene with Buck and the horse. That city boy had to learn how to ride somewhere!)**

**I have made some changes that I hope improve the story. Thanks all for your suggestions.**

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**Chapter One**

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**In the distant future, a tall man, one wearing a now not so white uniform of a starfighter pilot of the Earth Defense Directorate found himself in a particularly unpleasant quandary.He was cornered.The continuous corridors had finally run out, ending in a large room filled with gadgetry, some bizarrely constructed and some more mundane, but none familiar.An acrid smell, resembling the result of a mixing of ammonia and bleach filled the air, making his eyes water.Smoky fumes filled one corner where an experiment had gone awry, sparks popped in another part of the room.His hazel eyes surveyed his surrounding, but didn’t stray long from the large, hairy, hulking alien that had been stalking him and now stood grinning only a few feet away.Another alien, one pale white, slender and about the same height as the terran pilot came in through the only entrance and stood watching the two humanoids in front of him.The look on his waxy face was one of curiosity, and intensely eager anticipation.The starfighter pilot was reminded of an old cartoon, where a mad scientist and his neck-less, beast-like creation were chasing a rabbit.He didn’t like the analogy.**

**The pilot quickly ran his hand through dark, reddish-brown hair made lank by the accumulation of dust and sweat.The room was abominably hot and the uniform didn’t help much.He feinted to one side and the huge alien matched his move.“You know, if you’d just tell me where the door is, I could find my own way out,” the pilot joked, his mouth quirked in a smile that held no mirth.The alien just favored the terran with a wider grin.**

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**A machine to his right hissed, spat flame and then collapsed in a clattering heap.The alien turned his attention from his quarry for a scant few seconds and the pilot leaped for the machine on his left, grabbing a metal bar about eight feet above the ground and pulling himself up on a framework that didn’t really look sturdy enough to hold anyone, much less someone of his size.But it was the only chance he had.Suddenly, the slender man screamed, his demeanor changed to that of fear.“No, not there.Don’t touch that!”**

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**“Too late….” the terran began, and then he, too, stared fearfully into what appeared to be a miniature black hole, a vortex that winked red and silver light in a gaping maw of deepest midnight.The metal bar he was hanging onto gave way with a scream of tortured metal and suddenly the pilot was falling into the blackness.He seemed to fall forever, and ever and ever, his body alternately cold and hot, his eyes tightly closed against the flashing points of light that felt like searing coals against his eyelids, but didn’t seem to actually burn.**

**And then there was nothing.**

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**Corporal Reyes sat staring at the small fire blazing before him.His military jacket lay across a rock, his suspenders dangled onto the sand.The surf boomed dully beyond the fire, the waves seeming to echo a refrain of peace and solitude. He was relaxed to the point of lethargy.Finally he had been able to use the pass Sergeant Garcia had issued him over a month before.Finally.And the best part was that a courier had brought in the payroll from Monterey just the day before.Reyes was a very happy man.He had left the _pueblo_ that morning before Garcia could find something for him to do and before the sergeant could wheedle money from him for wine at the tavern.**

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**Always it was the same, by the time they were paid, Sgt. Garcia had managed to build his bill at the tavern so that his pay only covered that which he owed.Then it was the same story all over again.“Corporal, do you have a _peso_?”or“Corporal, now you can lend me some money.”As though it was his privilege to spend all his money on his superior officer.**

**Reyes grinned broadly.It wasn’t going to happen this time.He felt the clink of coins in his money belt that was safely tucked beneath his waistband.And before he returned from his weekend of solitude, he was going to find a way to hide his money so it wouldn’t end up in the sergeant’s hands.But that was the problem.Where could he hide his fifteen _pesos_ so that they would be safe?He had thought of burying them, but then there was the problem of remembering where they were hidden.A marker would tell anyone else where they were as easily as they would him.**

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**He sighed and reached toward the fire to turn the spit holding the rabbit he had shot earlier.The succulent smell of roasting meat made his mouth water.A bottle of wine sat between his rolled up blanket and saddle.He grinned again.Sergeant Garcia had wanted to come with him, thinking that the three-day pass would be someplace like San Fernando where the food and wine were renowned and the ladies soft and gentle-eyed, and where, if they wouldn’t extend credit to him, the sergeant could wheedle money from his aide.But when Reyes said he was going to spend his time near the ocean, the corpulent sergeant had decided that he had work to do in the _cuartel_.Sgt. Garcia didn’t like the ocean.It made him seasick.Just thinking about it made him seasick.And that was exactly why Reyes had decided to spend his weekend here.No paying for someone else’s wine, no having to go out and chase Zorro in the middle of the night, no having to shine someone else’s boots or wash someone else’s pants . . . Reyes felt as though he had died and gone to heaven.There was only the sound of the ocean, the birds and the distant howling of a coyote.**

**It was not something he would want to do all the time, since he did like being around people, but just for this weekend, just this once, it was pleasant.Then Reyes pondered.What did he want to do in the future?He was a soldier, but did he want to be a soldier forever?Did he want to be forever polishing Sgt. Garcia’s boots, to be forever busted to private when he didn’t exactly follow the sergeant’s orders?Sighing, Reyes thought of the time he had made a bed of straw in the abandoned winery in order to stand watch all night over Don Esteban’s (well, no, it was actually Zorro’s) horse, and Sgt. Garcia took it over.That was bad enough, but there was the time he was ordered to dress as a _señorita_ to fool Zorro.The look on Zorro’s face when he realized who was under the _mantilla_ was almost worth it, but the skunks that had cornered them right afterward weren’t.That was horrible.And never having any money, or when he did, always having it confiscated, and always doing what Sgt. Garcia said, including telling rich _señoritas_ what a fine fellow his commanding officer was.No one told them what a fine fellow he was!It wasn’t fair.**

**He thought of the time he had spent with _Señorita_ Bastinada.While she was nothing to look at, she was very nice to him.And she really did have pretty eyes.She had even nicer money, too.She had invited him to visit her in San Pedro.She had even said he was charming and Reyes felt as though she meant it.With a smile, Reyes remembered that time.They had danced to Don Diego’s guitar music and he had felt wonderful being with her.Sgt. Garcia had been so very angry with him.It had galled him that the corporal was getting the attention that the acting _comandante_ couldn’t get.All this despite the elaborate party Garcia had thrown for her, the fibs Reyes had been instructed to say about the sergeant’s prowess, the chumming up to the _señorita’s_ little brother, Pogo.It was he, Reyes, who had impressed the _señorita_ , not Garcia.But Reyes had been too busy or too embarrassed to go more than a couple of times to San Pedro in the past year to see her, and what could a penniless, short little corporal hope for with a rich businesswoman like _Señorita_ Bastinada?He sighed.But he was going to find a way to keep this money, then add to it, more each time he got paid.Then he would be able to call on the _señorita_.Who knows, maybe he would get lucky, maybe the payroll would start coming every month.Maybe he would win a game of _bruha_ in the tavern someday, he thought.Then he sighed in dejection.His chances of finding gold in the mountains would be more likely than either of the other two possibilities.**

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**Suddenly the quiet was split with a cracking noise that made Reyes’ ears ring.A thunderous boom followed and a flash of hellishly red light came from in front of him.A figure stood in the midst of the red light.It was glowing red, too, and Reyes knew that he was being accosted by the devil himself.Eyes wide with fright, he crossed himself and then jumped to his feet and leaped behind a boulder, where he crossed himself again.**

**The light faded almost as quickly as it had appeared and only the ringing in his ears and the horrid smell of brimstone was left to witness to the frightened corporal that he had indeed seen the opening of a door from hell.Reyes peeped from behind the boulder, his curiosity too great, although fear was running neck and neck with that curiosity.Everything was dark again.There was only his fire and his slowly cooking meal.**

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**Reyes continued to watch, his eyes still saucer large and round.He listened and only heard the ocean and the crackling of his fire.He still smelled the brimstone, though, so he stayed where he was.Finally the smell dissipated and when nothing else happened, Reyes began to slowly creep out from behind the boulder.Then he heard a low moaning sound before him and he turned and ran, crossing himself again.He continued running, feeling the stones bruise his stockinged feet, to where his horse was tethered.He fumbled with the rope that kept his horse from wandering. “ _Estupido_!” he said, finally making his nervous fingers cooperate so he could untie the skittish animal.When he had succeeded, he threw himself onto the horse and rode away from the beach, frightened that the devil might be creeping up behind him.Even the horse ran faster than it usually did.**

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**Reyes was a mile away before he realized that his tack was still back at the beach, along with his jacket.However, under no circumstances would he even consider going back in the dark.Not to where the devil had been.He had been lucky to escape with his life.The night was dark, the waning moon not up yet, but he recognized what road he was on and he continued, knowing that he would end up at the de la Vega _rancho_ eventually.He pulled on the rope connected to the halter until the horse slowed to a trot.There was no need to ruin a perfectly good horse by allowing it to step into a hole at full gallop.Especially since it belonged to the king and Sgt. Garcia would most likely charge him twice what it was worth and pocket a couple of _pesos_ for doing the paperwork.**

**It was too late to call on Don Alejandro or even Don Diego, so Reyes pulled the horse off the side of the road and found a sheltered area where he could tie the horse and sleep in semi-comfort.Throughout the night, though, he kept waking up, alternately from the cold or from recurring nightmares about devils in red outfits.Once he awoke feeling the eyes of baleful demons staring down at him, but only saw the third quarter moon overhead.**

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**===========================**

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**Head pounding unmercifully, the starfighter pilot, whose name was Buck Rogers, one time captain in the United States Air Force, sat up to a sight, to sounds and scents that he never thought to experience again in his lifetime.It was a beach, the booming of the surf told him that.It was a beach on Earth, the waning moon told him that as well.In the distance he heard the sound of coyotes serenading the moon above him.He smelled the ocean scents of seaweed, salt and dead fish, those things he remembered from his boyhood.But how?First of all he hadn’t even been on Earth, he’d been on assignment to Qoordor, trying to figure out, with his companions, what had been causing the horrendous geological upheavals that had rocked the planet and caused scientists to declare Qoordor a dying planet.But here he was, on Earth, the man in the moon was telling him so.**

**Even as Buck tried to puzzle out this return to the Earth of his boyhood, the pilot figured he knew why Qoordor was having the geological problems it was having.However, there was nothing he could do about it now.He had apparently gone through some kind of a doorway to another universe, only this one was strangely like the earth of his past.Could it be what the science fiction writers of his day called an alternate universe?Everything told him he was on Earth, but it was certainly not like the planet he called home now.His mind kept jumping back and forth to the twin dilemmas, even as his head continued to throb, almost in time to the booming of the surf.**

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**Could the doorway be the cause of Qoordor’s problems as he thought it was?It was said that a true black hole not only provided a doorway to other planes of existence, but they took substance from the universes in which those doorways resided.Usually they existed in the huge expanses of space, but to exist on a planet defied reason.And it would certainly explain the planetary problems that had taken him and Wilma and Theo to Qoordor in the first place.**

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**Sighing, Buck stood up, stretching muscles that seemed almost stretched to the limit.The sand gave beneath his shoes and he staggered.He examined the ground where he was standing, trying to find some clues to help him return to Qoordor.There was nothing, at least nothing he could find in the dark.Nearby was a small campfire, crackling merrily, inviting him to sit by its warmth.“Hello,” he called out, wondering where the builder of the fire was.The night sounds continued to entrance him with their similarities to that with which he was familiar. _Uncanny._ It appeared that he was entirely alone, so he walked over to the fire and allowed its heat to warm him.A saddle, blanket, sword, bridle, a military jacket and a pair of boots sat near the fire, neatly placed, but where the owner was, only heaven knew.Above the fire, on a makeshift rotisserie, was a dressed out animal, a rabbit, most likely.The scent of the juicy meat made his head spin; it had been almost a day since he had eaten.“Hello,” he called out again.“Anyone out there?I won’t hurt you.”**

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**There was no answer except the rhythmic sound of the waves and the distant animals.Gazing at the meat again, he considered.Whoever had killed and cleaned the rabbit had left.Buck was intensely hungry and the meat was beginning to blacken on one side.“Go for it,” he told himself.“Your loss,” he called out, trying one more time to rouse the owner of this rustic feast.He pulled the stick off the fire and blew on the meat.Finally, even though it was still too hot, Buck pulled off a tiny leg and began to eat it, sucking in the cool night air to ease the burning of his tongue.Even so, it wasn’t long before the small feast was finished.As there was absolutely nothing he could do until daylight, Buck decided to get some sleep.He had enjoyed too little of that in the recent past, too, and his body was craving it.Unrolling the blanket, he was surprised to find a bottle of vinol, and he picked it up and held it near the fire.With a gasp, Buck realized it wasn’t one of the synthahols that he had gotten used to; it was the real thing.He pulled on the cork and it slid out of the bottle with a soft pop.First he sniffed and then he tried a swallow.**

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**“Good Lord, that’s not Gallo,” he murmured, realizing that the owner of all these things was not rich.He took another swallow to ease his thirst and then placed the cork back in the bottle and put the wine to the side with the bridle and boots.Spreading out the blanket, Buck lay down, using the saddle as a pillow.Then he pulled part of the blanket over him, lying as close to the fire as he dared.Soon, lulled by the ocean, the exhausted pilot fell fast asleep.**

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**Reyes woke up stiff and sore just before dawn.He stretched to get the kinks out his joints and then wrapped his arms around himself to try and gather some warmth into his body. _What should I do now?_ Reyes thought that he should go back to the _cuartel_ where at least he would have a warm breakfast.But no, the sergeant and all of his _compadres_ would laugh at him when he told them why he was returning early.They would think he had drunk all his wine in one night and seen visions in his drunkenness.They would ask him where his saddle was. _Saddle!_ _Ai_ , Reyes thought, _That is worth all of this month’s and the next two month’s pay alone._ And there was his sword and the bridle and his boots.And then there was also the bottle of wine. _Well, perhaps the bottle of wine isn’t quite as important, maybe._ Were the saddle, bridle and sword worth being caught by the devil?Reyes scratched his chin and thought.If he didn’t get his tack, things wouldn’t be much better than being in Hell.It would take him the rest of his natural life to pay it back with the interest that Sgt. Garcia would most likely charge him.**

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**Sighing, Reyes stumbled on sore feet to where his horse was placidly waiting, mounted it and headed back to the ocean.As he approached, he kept slowing the horse down until, with another sigh, the corporal dismounted and walked, trying to be as stealthy as he could.Finally, he reached the boulder and, crossing himself, slowly raised his head, peeping around to check out his campsite.His jaw dropped.Instead of a red clad devil, he saw a man sleeping next to the remains of his fire, using the saddle as a pillow and covered by his blanket.The sword, bridle and boots lay where he had left them, undisturbed, but the idea that someone had used his things to sleep comfortably, while he had been shivering in the cold night, made him angry.Forgotten was the gate of Hell, the devil, the horrible noise and smell of the night before.Before him was only a figure sleeping comfortably where he should be.The stranger had probably eaten his rabbit, too.He hadn’t seen it by the fire.**

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**The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.With courage borne of resentment, Reyes walked up to the sleeping man and kicked him in the leg, then he fell back in surprise when the man exploded into immediate action, rolling over, grabbing his leg and jerking him to the ground.The man was standing over him in the next instant, unarmed, but dangerous-looking nevertheless.Reyes had only seen Zorro move that fast.**


	2. Reyes Takes a Vacation

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**Reyes stared at the stranger, wondering at the white clothing that seemed to fit more tightly than even his own underwear, and at the man’s speech, which was definitely not the King’s Spanish.And he watched the man’s hands, hands that seemed to be very capable of doing him harm.**

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**But at the same time, Reyes wondered at this man in white. _White?_ Was he an angel sent to chase away the devil, which had come for him the previous evening?If so, and Reyes was becoming increasingly of the opinion that such was the case; this angel must have had a horrendous battle.The white clothing was smudged and dirty and faintly smelled of the brimstone scent that had accosted Reyes’ nose the night before.Regardless, he had to thank this man.Besides, even if he weren’t an angel, it wouldn’t hurt to be on this man’s good side.“Gracias, Señor Angel,” he said in his most respectful manner.He had had enough practice with superior officers and especially with that insufferable Don Sebastian Varga last year to know how to be very respectful.**

**The angel stared at him in surprise and then straightened up, his pose no longer threatening.“De nada,” the man said in return, after pausing for a moment.It was as though he had been searching for the right words and had finally come up with them, or close to them anyway.It was as though the man was from a foreign port and didn’t speak the corporal’s language.Reyes pondered, didn’t all angels speak the same language?But then, he reasoned, perhaps not all angels were from the mother country.Maybe this one was English or French before he had died and became an angel.It was possible, Reyes supposed; anything was possible.But it would make talking with this angel interesting, because Reyes knew no other language beside his native tongue.**

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**The man in front of him pointed to himself and said, “Buck Rogers.”**

**Reyes congratulated himself on his astuteness.Even the man’s name sounded English, the last name, anyway.He pointed to himself and said proudly, “Corporal Juan Reyes y Morista.”**

**The angel smiled broadly and held out his hand.Reyes took it and the two men sealed their friendship with a handshake.Señor Buck pulled him to his feet.**

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**“Corporal Reyes, I do not know Spanish well.Please be . . . patient.”Buck said, stumbling over his words, and then asked, “What day is it?”** ****

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**“Saturday,” Reyes answered simply.**

**Buck sighed again.“What is the date?Year, month, day?”** ****

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**“Ah,” Reyes said.Now he understood.And his feelings that this was an angel became even stronger.Who else but an angel, who went from place to place, would not keep up with dates?“It is Saturday, August 25 th, 1821.”The angel’s eyes widened, and Reyes saw him swallow hard, as though something had become stuck in his throat.**

**“And the place?”** ****

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**“Near Los Angeles,” Reyes said.He watched as the angel, Señor Buck, looked out at the ocean, his eyes thoughtful and distant.Reyes looked out and saw only far-off clouds and white-capped waves.“Are your fellow angels coming to get you?”**

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**There was a long pause before Buck smiled softly and then nodded.“Sometime, I suppose.”** ****

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**“I am here until tomorrow night,” Reyes said.“Is it all right for me to stay here with you while you wait?”Reyes wondered what it would be like to see a whole legion of angels or to see one going back into the sky.He shivered slightly in anticipation.**

**Buck nodded and then watched the waves again.**

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**It was as though Señor Buck’s mind was elsewhere—heaven, perhaps?Then Reyes wondered what angels did when they weren’t in heaven.He had only come here anticipating a bit of hunting, a great deal of sleeping and some exploring, things that most would never think to do, but that had strangely appealed to him when he had asked for the pass.The only other thing he had brought was a deck of bruha cards.Reyes wondered if angels were allowed to play bruha. He would ask later, right now, he was hungry, not having had his dinner the night before.“I have a few tortillas for breakfast and I was going to get some eggs from nearby nests.Would you care to have some breakfast with me?” he asked.“Do angels eat breakfast?”** ****

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**Again, Buck pondered and then finally answered.“Yes, thank you.I would like that.”He looked back at the fire.“I think that was your . . . uh, rabbit I ate last night.You were not here.”**

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**“No, I ran away from the devil that you saved me from,” Reyes replied.**

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**Buck’s brow furrowed in concentration and then he chuckled softly.He began to say something and then seemed to change his mind.“It was . . . frightening, wasn’t it?” Buck asked, his hands making motions to try and convey his thoughts.**

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**“Oh, yes,” Reyes said, crossing himself at the horrible memory.**

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**“What can I do to help you?”Buck pointed toward the fire.“With breakfast, I mean?”**

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**“Oh, no, nothing.I can do it.”**

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**“Can I at least gather wood for the fire?” Buck asked.He felt distinctly uncomfortable deceiving this man, who seemed so trusting and simple in his beliefs.Buck was especially uncomfortable since he was not only Reyes’ ‘angel,’ but his ‘devil,’ too.However, after he had been told the date, it wasn’t hard to decide that telling this soldier the truth would be much harder to accomplish than allowing the fantasy that the man had come up with on his own to stay as it was.Buck was struggling to think back to his high school Spanish class and, although the teacher had been very good, years of not using what he had learned had left him with less than passable communications skills.Trying to explain vortices and space and time travel would be impossible even under the best of circumstances.Buck sighed.This jumping around to various times and places could not only get confusing, but annoying.And then there was the possibility that he might be stranded here.That caused a surge of panic to grow in his chest and he willed it away.Wilma and Dr. Theopolis would surely be able to figure out the machine that had sent him here.He only had to stick around and wait.If it so happened that he was stranded . . . no, he wouldn’t even think about that right now.** ****

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**There was a tap on his arm.Looking down, he realized that the little corporal had been speaking to him.Buck concentrated on the soldier’s words, then he nodded.“Yes, I’ll go look for some wood now.”**

**Reyes watched Señor Buck wander off into an area where scrub brush grew and wondered what his fellow soldiers would think of his story.They would most likely think he had bought sour wine and eaten bad meat.But Reyes could not deny what he had seen.And this angel did not refute anything he had said, either.He wandered to the area where the sea birds made their nests and was disappointed to find that there were no eggs to by seen anywhere.Then he realized it was not the right time of the year.He berated himself for his stupidity.Sighing, he returned to the camp and pulled out his meager stores, barely enough to feed one man for the next day and a half.What would they think of him in heaven now?He took the small bag of ground corn and poured a goodly measure into a pot, then he added water and mixed.**

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**He was building up the remains of the fire when Señor Buck returned with more wood.“I am sorry.I forgot that this is the wrong time of year to gather eggs,” Reyes told him.**

**“That’s all right.Do you like . . . um, fish?”**

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**“I have very seldom eaten fish,” Reyes admitted.**

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**After thinking a moment, Buck replied, pantomiming to get his words across.“It has been a very long time since I . . . caught any.I will see what I can do.”He stripped off his white shirt, or whatever it was, and left it on the sand beside the campfire.Reyes noted that the feel of the material was not like anything he had ever handled in his life.It was something like silk, but it also stretched and seemed very strong.It was smooth to the touch and Reyes hoped when he went to heaven, he would be allowed to wear something like that.Buck walked out toward the water, where he dove into the incoming waves.For a while, Reyes wondered what kind of fish catching technique this was and then realized that _Señor_ Buck was simply playing in the surf.Shrugging, the corporal took the wood his angel had gathered and built up the fire.He put the pot near flames, but not in them so the porridge would warm up slowly.When he had finished and looked up, he saw his friend walking back out of the surf with something in one hand.Then his angel gazed at the wet sand for a moment and quickly began digging.He did this a few more times before gathering what he had caught and bringing it to the fire.**

**They were not fish; they were clams and mussels.Reyes had never eaten those, considering them a bit on the dirty and slimy side.“Do you have a knife?” Buck asked.“Been a long time since I’ve….”Here he used words that Reyes didn’t recognize,“‘shucked oysters’, but I am willing to try.”**

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**Reyes handed him a knife and watched carefully.Buck fumed at first before he figured out the technique.Finally, he got one shell open and then looked around.“Do you have a . . . a pan or something to cook these in?”Again, he accompanied his halting words with signs, a feat that was difficult at best with his hands full.**

**Reyes understood, but shook his head.He had only brought the pot to cook his breakfast in.Buck studied the area around him, then pointed to a fairly flat, wide rock.“That one, put it by the fire, please,” he said pointing.Reyes did as he was told, curious.Buck brushed it off as best he could and then laid each piece of meat on it to slowly roast as the fire heated the rock.**

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**Soon they had a strange meal of roasted shellfish meat in tortillas, with porridge, but it tasted very good, Reyes admitted.Buck left most for him, claiming to still be partially full from the rabbit the night before.They sat next to each other, sighing in contentment, leaning against a large boulder.“What country did you die in?You are not an angel from the mother country,” Reyes said in the ensuing silence.**

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**Buck gazed at him in puzzlement and Reyes repeated his question.He nodded and said, “America.”**

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**“You are Americano?”**

**“Yes.”Buck didn’t feel as much of the sting of his deceit in this revelation, because he had somewhat died and he was American.Or had been.He wondered how long it would take Theo to figure out the workings of that machine.Of course, they had to figure out what had happened to him.He sighed.As much as he liked the idea of being on Earth in its more pristine nature, and as much as he liked this interesting Spanish American soldier, he missed his friends and he missed the conveniences to which he had become accustomed.Like a shower.That would be nice.The salt water was beginning to itch.**

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**“Do you want to play a game of bruha while you wait for your fellow angels?” Reyes asked.**

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**“Bruha?”** ****

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**“Yes, it is a game.Played with cards.Or are angels allowed to play games with cards?” Reyes asked.**

**“Oh, a card game.Yes, I can play, if you show me how.But first, is there water nearby where I can . . . wash off?The salt water, you know.”Again, Buck made signs to supplement his words.The corporal seemed to be very astute in that regard and caught on quickly.**

**“Sí, Señor Angel.Just over that rise,” Reyes said, pointing.“There is a stream.I think it is deep enough to bathe in.At least part of it is.”**

**Buck was gratified to realize that he, at least understood Reyes better.He got up and, following the corporal’s directions, found the stream in question.Stripping off the filthy uniform, Buck quickly washed off the salt water and then rinsed out his tunic and pants.He slid them back on, even though they were still damp.This type of material dried quickly and he didn’t have the luxury of having a change of clothes anyway.By the time he had reached the soldier’s camp the uniform was almost dry.Again, Reyes asked him if he was ready to play cards with him.Buck shrugged, and then nodded.**

**Happily, Reyes realized that if Señor Buck had never played bruha, then he would have a fairly good chance of beating this angel.He certainly couldn’t beat his fellow soldiers.He probably couldn’t even beat Señorita Bastinada’s little brother, Pogo, for that matter.With that happy thought, Reyes commenced to gather pebbles to bet with.Then he shuffled the deck, all the while explaining.Several times, Buck would stop him and ask for him to clarify something.Finally, they began playing in earnest, Buck intent on remembering the rules and Reyes intent on winning a hand for once in his life.He didn’t.Señor Buck seemed to have a natural ability with the game and he began collecting Reyes’ pebbles.Soon Reyes had nothing, while the pile in front of Buck had become a mound of prodigious dimensions.It could be something to do with his friend being an angel, the corporal thought, trying to console himself.** ****

**  
**

**Finally, Reyes sighed.“I am glad we were only playing for pebbles.”**

**Buck grinned.“My friend, I have to tell you this is like a game I played . . . when I was younger.I was very good at it.”He separated the pebbles and gave Reyes his pile back.Then he looked a bit contrite.“I am sorry.I know you wanted to win, but I cannot help it.I just play and try to win.”**

**“If I could play like that, I could maybe get enough money to put aside for when I retire.”** ****

**  
**

**Buck studied his Spanish friend.“Do you not get enough to . . . um, save for your . . . the time you retire?” he asked, hoping Reyes would understand him.**

**“We are lucky to get our pay a few times a year,” Reyes said sadly.**

**Buck was appalled.“But how do you live?”He knew what it was like to be in the service and live from payday to payday, but that was every month.** ****

**  
**

**Reyes shrugged.“We have a place to live and food to eat, most of the time.” He paused and seeing Buck’s curiosity, he elaborated.“We live in the cuartel.Sometimes they send food from Monterey and sometimes the rancheros send beef for us to eat, along with corn and some wine when our supplies are very low.We patch our uniforms until we can get new ones.”**

**“How do you keep enough men in the Army?” Buck asked.**

**“For most of us, it is better to do this than to be a peon working for a rich landowner.If we stay in the Army long enough, we get a little land of our own when we retire.”**

**“Oh.”** ****

**  
**

**“It is all right,” Reyes said.“I can think of worse things.”He paused.“Is it wrong to want a little money to wed a señorita with a lot of money?” Reyes asked, changing the subject.** ****

**  
**

**Buck looked thoughtful, wondering how he had suddenly ended up with a Dear Abby type of question to try to answer.“I . . . uh, guess there is nothing wrong with it, if you like the woman.”** ****

**  
**

**“Señorita Bastinada is nice to me and says I am charming.I have a good time when I am with her.”**

**  
**

**“I guess that is a good start, Corporal,” Buck admitted.“Is that why you want to win money at bruha?”**

**Reyes looked thoughtful.“I thought angels knew everything,” he said, curious.He thought they had wings, too, but he wasn’t going to ask that question yet.**

**Buck thought furiously.“Uh, Corporal, only God knows everything.”** ****

**  
**

**“That is true,” Reyes admitted with a nod of his head. “But I do wish I could have enough money to buy one nice suit of clothes.To go see Señorita Bastinada.” He thought if he had something decent, he might be able to actually woo Señorita Bastinada, the only woman who had really been nice to him.Other than his own mother, that is.**

**“You do not have any other clothes except your . . .” here Buck reached over and touched Reyes’ uniform jacket.**

**Reyes shook his head.“No.”**

**“I can teach you how to win at bruha,” Buck suggested, feeling very sorry for the luckless soldier.**

**  
**

**“No, many have tried to teach me, but I just cannot seem to learn well enough to win.”** ****

**  
**

**“Well, let me try.It’s an easy game.Maybe I can see what you are doing . . . wrong,” Buck said.** ****

**  
**

**“I certainly have time,” Reyes replied and the two men began to play again.**


	3. New Page 2

**  
**

**As they played, Buck could see that Reyes was right, the man could no more bluff than he could fly a starfighter.Although Buck had thought the corporal had the perfect poker face, Buck realized that Reyes couldn’t hide anything.No matter how much Buck tried to coach him on that point, the corporal just couldn’t figure it out.By noon, the terran had all but given up.**

**  
**

**“See, I told you,” Reyes said sadly.**

**  
**

**“Do not give up hope.Something will come up,” Buck said encouragingly, as much for himself as for the Spanish American soldier.He tried to be patient, but it was hard.And as much as he had enjoyed the beach, he was ready to return to the stars.He was ready to know that he was not stranded here a couple of hundred years before his time.It had taken long enough to get used to living five hundred years in his future. Then an idea came to mind.“What if I played for you?Do you have any money?”**

**  
**

**“Yes, I have most of my last pay that came in Thursday, fifteen pesos,” Reyes replied, curious.“But we would have to go into Los Angeles.Would your fellow angels be able to find you there?”**

**  
**

**That was something Buck had forgotten.However, he realistically didn’t think Dr. Theopolis could figure out the machine that brought him here in less than two or three days.If he went with Reyes this afternoon, he could be back by tomorrow morning at the latest.“Maybe, maybe not.I think it will be tomorrow before they come.”**

**  
**

**“You would do that for me?” Reyes asked, excited.**

**  
**

**“Sí.What are friends for?And I would like to see your pueblo,” Buck said.**

**  
**

**“Do you want to go now?” Reyes asked.He was beginning to get tired of the beach and the surf, and the idea of watching Señor Buck play bruha in his behalf, excited him.“If you will put out the fire, I will saddle the horse.”**

**  
**

**Buck looked at the animal he had all but ignored, standing placidly at the top of the first rise, and wondered what he had volunteered for.He had only been on the back of a horse when he was a kid at summer camp.His butt and legs had hurt for two days following the first time he had ridden.Buck had finally been able to get used to riding the horses, and to even enjoy riding, but that had been years and years ago and he felt as though he had forgotten everything he had learned back then.**

**  
**

**Quickly, Reyes saddled and bridled the horse, gathered up all the tack and tied it behind the saddle.“You sit in the saddle, Señor Buck.”It was only right that this special friend of his sit in a more comfortable seat.However, as he watched the angel mount, it became obvious that Señor Buck was not comfortable around horses.“You do not ride much, do you?”**

**  
**

**“Not horses,” Buck answered sardonically.**

**  
**

**“But everyone rides horses!How can you get around if you do not ride horses?” Reyes asked, genuinely shocked.“I mean before you became an angel.”It was something he couldn’t really conceive of.Horses were a part of life.How could anyone think of walking everywhere?**

**  
**

**Buck moved around in the saddle, trying to get comfortable, and finally answered.“A . . . uh ….” Then he stopped.He pantomimed riding in something.The horse shifted from one foot to the other and Señor Buck studied it carefully.**

**  
**

**“Ah, a carriage.Sí,I understand.But we do not have one here for you, so you must make do.If you just sit easy and go with the movement of the horse, you will ride easier,” Reyes suggested.“Maybe.”**

**  
**

**“I will try.But it has been a very long time,” Buck replied, not totally reassured either.This was a fat barreled, but otherwise, bony horse that made those at summer camp seem like thoroughbreds.**

**  
**

**As Reyes gathered the reins and mounted behind his strange angelic friend, he wondered about this latest development.How could anyone not know how to ride a horse?**

**  
**

**“I think we have another problem,” Buck said.**

**  
**

**“What, señor,” Reyes asked.**

**  
**

**“What will people think when I ride into Los Angeles like this?” Buck asked, plucking at his sleeve.**

**  
**

**That was something Reyes hadn’t thought of, but his friend was right.The heavenly uniform would very likely be more than most of the pueblo’s people could deal with.He knew if someone suddenly came riding into the pueblo dressed like that, it would make him wonder.If the clothes created too much of a stir, it was likely that Señor Buck Rogers would be unable to play bruha.Reyes thought and thought, trying to decide who might have clothes about the same size as the angel.Then it dawned on him.Don Diego!“Maybe there is someone who would have something you can wear.I think Don Diego is about your size. Taller maybe, but close.”**

**  
**

**“Don Diego?”**

**  
**

**“Sí, Don Diego de la Vega.He does not live far from here.”**

**  
**

**“And you think he would . . . uh, let me have . . . some pants?”**

**  
**

**“Sí,and a shirt, too,” Reyes added brightly.“Don Diego is very nice.And he likes me, too.”**

**  
**

**“Let us go talk to him, then.”**

**  
**

**Reyes continued to hold the reins, thinking it safer than letting Señor Buck guide the horse.His friend just shifted his body trying to sit comfortably.“I am going to put my horse into a trot to get there quicker,” Reyes warned.**

**  
**

**“I was afraid you would say that,” Buck replied, remembering the first time he had put a horse into a trot and ended up on his back looking up at the whiskered face of his mount.He could have sworn the horse had laughed at him.**

**  
**

**Reyes clucked and nudged the gelding, and the horse ambled into a bone-jarring trot.**

**  
**

**“Good grief, I’d rather be in my dad’s old Impala!” Buck exclaimed in English, hanging on tightly to the saddle horn. Even the horses at camp didn’t have a gait this rough.**

**  
**

**Reyes could understand none of what Buck had said, but he could hear the tone of his friend’s voice and he decided that Señor Buck was not happy.“The ride will be easier if we are galloping,” Reyes said.“And it will be quicker.”**

**  
**

**“You are joking, right?” Buck shouted as the wind of their passing tore his words away.He had ridden the horses of his youth at a gallop, but he was much younger then, and the horses had much smoother gaits.He wondered what he had seen in this activity when he was a kid, and was glad he hadn’t been born into this time.There were definite advantages to riding on a rocket at seven gees as opposed to riding a horse, he thought.**

**  
**

**“No, Señor Buck,” Reyes said, kicking the horse with the toe of his boots.The old gelding began to gallop, nothing that would win a race, but certainly it would get them to Don Diego’s casa grande quickly.And as the horse settled into his new gait, Buck had to admit it was not as bad as he thought it would be.He began to relax and get into the rhythm of the horse’s movements.And before he knew it, they had arrived at the house of Don Diego de la Vega.Buck waited for Reyes to dismount.The horse turned its head and looked at him reproachfully.**

**  
**

**“Don’t look at me like that,” he said peevishly to the horse in English.“You are as remote in ancestry to Seabiscuit as I am to George Washington.”**

**  
**

**“I take it you do not like horses, señor,” a pleasant voice said through an open patio gate.The statement was in English.The speaker leaned against the frame of the patio gate, his smile friendly and his demeanor relaxed.**

**  
**

**Buck looked at the dark-haired young man who was gazing at him in undisguised curiosity.“Just not used to them, señor.And this one is not a fine example of horseflesh.Are you Don Diego de la Vega?” Buck asked.**

**  
**

**“I am.”Diego turned to Corporal Reyes and greeted him. Then he said to both, “Come in and I will have my servant bring out some refreshments.”**

**  
**

**“Thank you,” Buck said, dismounting.He followed the two men, rubbing his backside.**

**  
**

**Don Diego motioned to chairs around a small table and then studied Buck carefully.“It is very obvious that you are not from here, sir,” he said wryly, wondering where in the world the corporal had found this stranger dressed in such strange trappings.**

**  
**

**“That is an understatement, Don Diego,” Buck replied in English, grinning.He felt very comfortable around this man, even though he had just met him.**

**  
**

**“The clothes give you away, even if the accent hadn’t.You are American?” Diego asked.Then for Reyes’ benefit, “Americano _?”_**

****

**_  
_ **

**“Why, yes, I am,” Buck said, reverting back to Spanish as well.He was impressed.**

**  
**

**“Again, the accent.But the clothes, they are very different.”**

**  
**

**“Oh, Don Diego, Señor Buck is from….” Reyes stopped quickly when he felt the heel of Buck’s shoe on his toes.**

**  
**

**“From very far away, to keep it . . . um, easy,” Buck said.**

**  
**

**“I am curious, even though you are reticent about where you come from,” Diego continued.The conversation had been going on in a strange mixture of Spanish and English.Señor Buck was trying to continue talking in his fair, but halting Spanish, probably out of deference to Corporal Reyes.“About the insignia on your clothing.It is obvious you are wearing some kind of uniform.”**

**  
**

**“Um, yes.Captain William Buck Rogers, at your service,” Buck formally introduced himself.**

**  
**

**Reyes stared at him bug-eyed.“You are an officer?They have officers in….”Again the heel of Buck’s shoe stomped on Reyes’ toes.**

**  
**

**“It is very hard to . . . talk about, but I am not in your Army.I did not feel I needed to tell you, Corporal.We are friends and I am here to help you with your . . . problem,” Buck said.A partially bald man, apparently a servant, held out a tray with three glasses on it.Taking one, Buck nodded his thanks.**

**  
**

**“And if I may ask, what is the problem?” Diego asked.**

**  
**

**While Reyes didn’t really want his toes stomped on again, he felt he was on safe territory this time.“I would like to try and raise some money to buy a suit,” he said.“I would like to keep some money to do things with,” he added.“Without Sergeant Garcia borrowing it all from me.And Señor Buck said he could win some money for me playing bruha.He is very good at it.”**

**  
**

**Diego smiled, knowing the good sergeant well, but he was somewhat alarmed at the men’s solution to the problem.Even though he was taking a liking to Señor Buck, he knew very little about this Americano.“Ah, would it have something to do with Señorita Bastinada?” he asked.“And by the way, I would be happy to keep any money you wish to save.**

**  
**

**Reyes blushed and nodded.“Gracias, Don Diego.But even if you did keep my money for me, which is a good idea, it would take a very long time before I had enough to be able to court Señorita Bastinada.She is not getting any younger, you know.”**

**  
**

**Diego nodded in understanding and then gazed meaningfully at Buck.“And you think you can do this?”**

**  
**

**“I have always been good with games of this nature,” he said in English, understanding that Diego was concerned about the corporal’s welfare.“I wasn’t called lucky Buck for finding nickels on the road.It was partly for my skill in games of chance.”**

**  
**

**“There are some unscrupulous individuals out there who play bruha after the soldiers and vaqueros get their pay, Captain Rogers.And this month, the pay for both came almost the same day,” Diego explained.“The bruha players are like locusts in the pueblo these days.”**

**  
**

**“I have no . . . thought of playing against Corporal Reyes’ friends,” Buck said in Spanish, so that Reyes would understand him.“That would not be fair.”He grinned.“There would be no . . .” and here he used the English word, “ ‘challenge’ if they all play like he does.”**

**  
**

**Diego laughed and then became serious.He liked this man, but he wanted him to understand the seriousness of what he and the corporal were undertaking.“You will be careful with the corporal’s money, Capitán.”It was a statement, but seemed almost to be a slight threat.**

**  
**

**Buck now understood what Reyes had said about Don Diego.He was very fair-minded for all that he was of the upper class in this society.He really did care about what happened to the soldier.“I will stop at Corporal Reyes’ original fifteen pesos if I cannot win against these card players.”**

**  
**

**Diego nodded.“Let me guess, Capitán, you are in need of some suitable clothing as well?”**

**  
**

**Buck nodded.“Yes, and please, just call me Buck.”**

**  
**

**“You are a bit shorter than I, but I think I have something you can wear,” Diego said.“Come with me.”Diego decided he needed to talk to this man in private.While he felt him to be an honorable man, there were too many doubts about this scheme to let things go unquestioned.“And Corporal Reyes, please make yourself comfortable while we are finding something suitable for your friend.”Reyes smiled happily, taking the open bottle of wine from Bernardo and pouring more into his glass.**

**  
**

**  
**

**When they were in Diego’s bedroom, the young hidalgoturned and said bluntly, speaking in English for his guest to understand, “It was obvious that you have told Corporal Reyes things about yourself that you did not wish me to know.”**

**  
**

**Buck gazed into the younger man’s eyes.“Actually there are things he assumed that I didn’t wish you to know—at least in public.”While this man seemed very intelligent and looked to be open-minded, Buck had to keep reminding himself that Don Diego was also a pre-industrial age man.“Corporal Reyes thinks I am an angel.”**

**  
**

**Diego stared wide-eyed for a moment and then grinned.“That sounds like something the corporal would believe.But you are not.”Even given the penchant for Reyes’ simplistic thinking, Diego was wondering how the corporal would believe this man was a heavenly being.**

**  
**

**“No, but the truth is even stranger.Understand, though, that I am not here to do the corporal or anyone else any harm.I am here by accident.”**

**  
**

**“Where should you be?” Diego asked.“And by the way, I feel I am a good judge of character.My inner instincts say that I can trust you.Will you trust me with the truth?If you are in trouble, maybe I can help.”**

**  
**

**“And I feel I can trust you, but sometimes that is not enough,” Buck said, then he shrugged.“I am supposed to be on the planet, Qoordor, but a vortex of some kind brought me to Earth.”**

**  
**

**“What?”Diego gaped.Now he understood what Buck Rogers had told him about the truth being stranger.“You make it sound as though you are from….”Here Diego pointed to the sky.“Somewhere in the heavens . . . or rather space.”**

**  
**

**Buck smiled and nodded.“Now do you see why I let Corporal Reyes believe as he does?I came through the vortex, a spatial gate, so to speak, looking for all the world, I suppose, like some devil from Hell.Lots of smoke, fiery light and a nasty smell.He ran and later, when he saw me at his campsite, he thought I was the angel that ran off the devil.With my meager Spanish, I knew I couldn’t explain the truth to him and even if I could, I don’t think he could ever understand.”**

**  
**

**“If I did not see this,” Diego said, pointing to the special uniform, “And did not have that intuitive feeling to trust you, I wouldn’t begin to understand or believe you either.As it is, I still don’t totally understand.”**

**  
**

**“You said something about me being in trouble,” Buck began as Diego handed him a pair of button up pants.He studied them—no zipper.“I am in trouble.I have no way of getting back.I can only wait for my friends to come and get me.”**

**  
**

**“But how will they know where you are since you have left the area where you appeared?”**

**  
**

**“Exactly.They won’t. But I do want to help Corporal Reyes and think it will take my friends a while to figure out how to come through the same ‘gate’ that I came through.”**

**  
**

**“But what if they are sooner than you expect them?”**

**  
**

**Buck sighed.“That is the real problem.I don’t know, Don Diego.”**

**  
**

**“Then perhaps someone can wait and meet your friends if they come while you are still away.”**

**  
**

**“You?” Buck asked.**

**  
**

**“Me or a friend of mine, one whom I trust.”**

**  
**

**“Ah, you won’t spread this all around, will you?I really don’t want to start some kind of big panic or something.”**

**  
**

**“No, if I have to ask my friend to watch for your friends, he will only know just what he needs to know,” Diego assured the angel/other worldly visitor with a reassuring smile.**

**  
**

**“I just hope Wilma trusts him, or you, for that matter,” Buck said.**

**  
**

**Diego looked questioningly at him.“Wilma?”**

**  
**

**“Colonel Wilma Deering.She is my friend.She is also my commanding officer.”**

**  
**

**“A woman military commander?” Diego asked.“You are indeed from a strange place.”He paused.“But you said you were from America.”**

**  
**

**Buck sighed.“Complicated, but suffice it to say, I was until I started exploring among the stars.”**

**  
**

**“I think that if your friends are concerned about you, they will listen to whomever is there to meet them.”Diego found a shirt and jacket that matched the calzoneros and handed them to Buck.Soon the Americano was dressed for a trip into the pueblo.“Shall we go back down?I would assume that the good corporal has finished the bottle of wine I left him,” Diego said with a chuckle.**

**  
**

**Buck grinned.“It’s no wonder.Your wine is infinitely better than that sour stuff he had.”**

**  
**

**Laughing, the two men walked down the stars and rejoined Reyes in the patio.**

**  
**


	4. Reyes Takes a Vacation

**  
**

**Reyes was just finishing the last of the wine when Don Diego and Capitán Rogers came down the stairs.He stared at the transformation of his new friend.While the legs of the trousers brushed the ground, the capitán would pass for a caballero without any second notice.And certainly would not be thought of as an angel.**

**  
**

**“You ready to go into town, Corporal?” Buck asked with a grin, seeing the look on Reyes’ face.**

**  
**

**“Sí! _”_ Reyes cried out, a great smile breaking out on his own face.Oh, he was ready to go into town.This would be a day to remember!**

**  
**

**“I will have one of the servants saddle an easy gaited horse,” Diego said to Buck, with a knowing smile.“Just remember, Buck, you need to mold your body to that of the horse.Feel his gait, relax and settle into the contours of his back.Keep control, but try to feel your mount’s movements and match yourself to them.”He smiled.“I think you underestimate your abilities.”**

**  
**

**“Maybe I am.Thanks for the advice.I really have ridden before, but I was a boy the last time I did,” Buck said ruefully.“And there is a difference between a horse and what I normally ride.”**

**  
**

**Diego smiled, not even imagining what someone ‘from the stars’ might normally ride.“I will join you in the pueblo.You two go on ahead and I will catch up.”He motioned to his servant.**

**  
**

**The good de la Vega wine was making him mellow, and Reyes felt like he was on the clouds.He was soon going to have enough money to do things he had wanted to do for a long time.If anyone had told him two days ago that he was going to meet an angel who would help him, Reyes would have laughed in his face.He glanced over at Señor Buck, who was doing better on his borrowed horse, and grinned broadly.**

**  
**

**“Please do not count your money before I win it, Corporal,” Buck said, seeing the look of eager anticipation on the soldier’s face.He held the reins in one hand and tried to pantomime.It pleased him that he was feeling comfortable enough to do so.**

**  
**

**“But you were sent to help me, you know.I cannot help but feel you will win, Señor….”**

**  
**

**Buck mentally groaned.This little venture was getting more and more complicated.**

**  
**

**“By the way, Capitán, what would you like me to call you?You do not wish me to call you an angel.You are or were a capitán. _”_ Reyes shrugged his shoulders.**

**  
**

**“Buck is fine, Corporal.We are friends, are we not?”**

**  
**

**“Sí, Señor Buck.”**

**  
**

**Buck sighed, but he couldn’t worry about this now, he was concentrating on his riding.While he noted that what he had learned so long ago was coming back and he was enjoying the ride on this horse, he also knew that he couldn’t become totally complacent.The remainder of the ride was uneventful, with Buck and Corporal Reyes bantering, and Don Diego showing up just before they rode into the plaza.The young don nodded his approval at his remembered skills and Buck felt a sense of accomplishment that was something akin to that which he felt when he had quickly mastered New Chicago’s starfighters.**

**  
**

**They tied their horses at a hitching post near the church and walked to the tavern.Reyes smiled again.There were horses tied all around the plaza, the tavern would be busy with plenty of games of bruha being played.Diego led the way into the tavern with Buck right behind him and Reyes bringing up the rear.Buck blinked as he walked into the room.Smoke hung in the air like a fog and the bantering chatter was almost as thick.Reyes paused, seeing that even his prediction had been overshadowed by the truth.Every table was filled and there were at least six card game in progress.**

**  
**

**Buck stood next to Diego, speaking English to him in a low voice.“Which one would you suggest?” he asked the young Spaniard.**

**  
**

**“That one,” Diego said, indicating a table where sat Don Carlos and his friends.He was feeling a bit perverse and sincerely hoped that the normally taciturn hacendado was in the mood to allow another player.Diego would enjoy seeing Buck take him down a notch or two, assuming, of course, that Buck could beat him.Apparently Don Carlos was winning today and in a big way.The man was laughing and joking loudly.He usually only did that when he had the upper hand.**

**  
**

**Diego motioned for Buck to follow.Reyes was close behind.“Don Carlos, I would like to introduce you to my friend, Don Guillermo.He has arrived only today and was interested in joining your bruha game,” Diego explained.**

**  
**

**“Let him join that table,” Don Carlos said brusquely, pointing to a table filled with arguing soldiers.**

**  
**

**“Señor, that would be . . . um, too easy,” Buck interrupted with a smile, not waiting for Diego to answer and praying for the right words to come.“I like to play only with the best bruha players.”Buck added motions to convey his thoughts.**

**  
**

**Don Carlos gazed at him disdainfully.Buck was beginning to get the impression that there was some ulterior reason for Diego picking this table.There appeared to be no love lost between the two men.However, it mattered not.This taciturn rancher had a stack of money in front of him that would make Reyes a happy man for life, if Buck could get it from his greedy fingers.“Or are you afraid that I will . . . win, Don Carlos?” he added, only his lack of the right words marring his mocking delivery.**

**  
**

**Don Carlos’ eyes snapped angrily.“Of course not,” he growled, looking this stranger up and down, studying his every feature, including the taunting smile that was on young Don Guillermo’s face.“I certainly do not mind you joining us.That will only mean more money for us to take home later.”**

**  
**

**One of the players, a man with nothing in front of him but the wine stained table, shook his head and got up.“You are welcome to my seat, señor,” the man said.“I am finished for the day.”**

**  
**

**Buck sat down and made himself comfortable.“Shall we begin?”**

**  
**

**“Place two pesos in the middle,” Carlos said.Pulling out the money that Reyes had given him on the way to town, he did so.The man on Carlos’ right shuffled the cards and then started dealing.Buck waited, studying each man while the cards were dealt.He saw that the man to his right was a nervous player, drumming his fingers while he waited.Don Carlos picked his cards up immediately, looking at each one separately.The others were more casual, almost too casual, as they didn’t have much money in front of them.**

**  
**

**When the dealer had dealt out all the cards, Buck looked at his hand.He felt someone’s hot breath on his shoulder and turned to see Reyes gazing at his hand, his attention rapt, but his eyes betraying what Buck held in his fingers.“Corporal, please.Could you watch from over there?Where you cannot see my hand.”It would do no good to play for the corporal if the others could figure out his hand from Reyes’ reactions.The soldier’s face fell.“Please, Corporal.It will be easier for me that way.”**

**  
**

**“Sí, Señor Buck,” he said, disappointed, and turned and joined a particularly large man at another table.Buck assumed this was the infamous Sergeant Garcia he had been told about.**

**  
**

**Buck turned back to his hand and saw the cunning look on Don Carlos’ face.The man had seen the corporal’s face and realized that Buck had a very good draw of cards.The pilot knew he had to get a feel for these players before doing anything drastic, so he folded right there.**

**  
**

**Don Carlos again won the pile in the middle of the table, gloating as he did so.“You are not from here, señor.You are foreign by the sound of your accent and the coarseness of your speech.Where are you from?” he asked in a disdainful voice as he drew the money over to join his already large pile.**

**  
**

**“A great deal further away than you can imagine,” Buck said softly in English.Thinking on his history, he added, “Chicago.”**

**  
**

**“Never heard of it.What country is that?”**

**  
**

**“Part of the United States, señor,” Buck elaborated, this time in Spanish.**

**  
**

**“You are an Americano _?_ ”**

**  
**

**“That is what a person from the United States is usually called,” Buck said, somewhat sarcastically.**

**  
**

**“Around here, a person from the United States is usually called a dog,” Don Carlos answered with a growl.**

**  
**

**Buck gazed evenly at the older man, keeping his face impassive.Inside, though, he wished he could shove his fist right down the acerbic rancher’s throat. “Señor, no one else has told me I am a dog.”Buck paused and smiled, leaning forward so that Carlos would hear him well.“But where I come from there is an old . . . phrase, uh, saying—It takes one to know one.I will answer your . . . I cannot think of the word, but I will answer you by taking your money at the cards.”Buck leaned back and gazed at Carlos, who was now staring at him red-faced and angry.“Unless you are afraid to lose to un pero. _”_**

**  
**

**“You will eat those words, señor.”Carlos turned to his companion and spat out.“Deal the cards.”**

**  
**

**Buck smiled softly, glad that even his meager store of Spanish was able to get through to this jackass.He won that hand, which was a good thing.The stakes rose as the dealer dealt more cards, and the thirteen pesos he had had left would have been gone in two hands.Buck won the next hand and the next one.Two of the four men bowed out of the game, but stayed at the table to watch the proceedings.Buck’s pile of coins was more than half of Don Carlos’ pile by the time just the two of them were playing, and by now, most of those in the tavern were aware of the ‘duel’ between ‘Don Guillermo’ and Don Carlos.Buck occasionally glanced behind him, aware that there were some of the rancher’s men circulating among the patrons of the tavern.That was one of the few times he had lost a hand, when he caught a vaquero signing to Don Carlos.At his protest, Sergeant Garcia ordered Corporal Reyes to escort the man away.The soldier happily did so, most willing to protect his earnings.**

**  
**

**When the piles of pesos in front of both men was about equal, Don Carlos pulled out a cigar and lit it.As he dealt, Buck felt and smelled the smoke of the Cuban cigar blowing directly in his face.“Don Carlos, would you please blow your smoke away from me.”**

**  
**

**“Señor, I have no control over the direction of the smoke,” Don Carlos sneered.He leaned forward and blew again.**

**  
**

**Buck coughed and reached over, plucking the cigar from Don Carlos’ mouth, and tossing it to the floor.“And I, señor, have no control over the direction of the cigar,” Buck replied, his eyes hard and his mouth set with determination.It was a determination to take this man down a notch. He could only imagine the extent of Don Carlos’ arrogance, but this game had become more than just a means of getting Corporal Reyes a new suit of clothes, it was a test of wills.Most of his poker games of the past had been contests of skill and luck between he and his buddies, but this was not friendly.Don Carlos jerked back and stared at Buck, his eyes glittering with hatred.“How many cards, Don Carlos?” Buck asked calmly.**

**  
**

**“None.”**

**  
**

**Buck dealt himself two cards, discarding two.He gazed at his hand.It was fair, but not stellar.He gazed at his opponent.The ranchero pushed the entire stack in front of him to the middle of the table.Buck was startled.Could the older man have that good a hand?**

**  
**

**“Well, I have put in one hundred pesos.Will you match the bet?”**

**  
**

**Buck studied the man, saw one hand continually drop to the hilt of his sword and then lie on the table.He saw the hard eyes; cold, glittering hate residing in them.And Buck realized just what was happening.Don Carlos hated that he was being beaten, he hated that a stranger was besting him, an American to boot.Don Carlos wanted to end the game so he could finish him off in a different manner.Buck counted out fifteen pesos and saw that his stack of money would still equal what Don Carlos had put in the middle of the table.“Corporal Reyes,” Buck called out, knowing that the corporal would have returned to the tavern by now.**

**  
**

**“Sí, Señor Buck,” Reyes said from across the room.**

**  
**

**Buck was careful to make sure that his cards were hidden.He turned to Reyes.“Here are your fifteen pesos.I appreciate the loan of your money.”**

**  
**

**Reyes looked confused, but sighed in relief when Buck smiled and winked.Then the captain turned back to his opponent and shoved the rest of the coins into the middle of the table.“I have matched your bet, Don Carlos.Show your cards.”**

**  
**

**Don Carlos laid out his cards.He had three cups.Buck laid out his cards.In the old days, it would have been a full house.As it was, he had three kings and two coins, easily beating Don Carlos.He pulled the pile of money over to his side of the table and called again to Corporal Reyes.“Corporal, will you take this money?I think Don Carlos has . . . something he wants to do.”Again, Buck mentally cursed his lack of language skills.There was much he wished he could say to this man across from him.**

**  
**

**“You cheated, that is the only way you could have beat me,” Carlos hissed.“No one has ever beaten me.”**

**  
**

**“No one was . . . brave enough to go against you to win,” Buck replied.“You are a rooster, who believes he has all of the hens . . . under his hand.”He watched as Don Carlos’ right hand curled around the hilt of his sword.Buck backed away from the table and got into a defensive crouch.Reyes had found a basket and was quickly scooping the money into it.Buck glanced around, but did not see Don Diego.**

**  
**

**Don Carlos whipped out his sword and jumped at Buck, the sword point leveled at the pilot’s midsection.Buck danced out of the way, even as he heard people gasping and pointing above him.Then, putting any distractions out of his mind, he shifted his weight, grabbed Don Carlos by his wrist of his sword hand, and then kick-boxed him in the ribs.With a scream, the rancher jerked back, holding his ribs and cursing.Buck was in no mood to play honorably.He reached in with a roundhouse punch that decked the older man, and then he calmly bent down and pulled the sword out of Don Carlos’ now lax hand.Turning to Sergeant Garcia, he handed him the sword.**

**  
**

**“I do not cheat, by the way, Sergeant,” Buck said to Garcia.“The money was won fairly.And except for a few pesos and centavos, it all belongs to Corporal Reyes.”**

**  
**

**“Very well done, Don Guillermo,” an authoritarian voice above him called out.**

**  
**

**Looking up, Buck gasped when he saw a figure in black swing down from the tavern’s balcony on a chandelier. _Zorro?_ his boyhood memories supplied the name of a fictional hero. _No, can’t be.Fiction, like Superman._ “Who are you?” he asked, shocked at the apparition from his younger days that seemed to fly down like some dark bird of prey.**

**  
**

**“El Zorro at your service,” the man in black said in English, as he lightly landed in front of the astonished pilot.“In the matter of cards and self-defense, it seems that you have very little need of my help.However, I am here on another matter,” Zorro said.“A mutual friend of ours asked me to watch for your people.I have been sent to take you to them.I have the faster horse and time is of the essence.”**

**  
**

**“My friends?”Buck was still reeling at the shock of seeing a comic book hero in front of him in the flesh.**

**  
**

**“Yes, señor.One named Wilma Deering,” Zorro said as he whipped out his sword, pointing it at the corpulent soldier who had been trying to sneak up on the bandit.“Sergeant, please.I really have no time to play games with you.I must get this man to his rendezvous.”**

**  
**

**With Buck by his side, Zorro backed to the door and the two men dashed out.Reyes followed, his basket held tightly in his arms.Zorro led Buck to the back of the tavern, where a large black horse stood pawing the ground.“Mount quickly, Buck Rogers.I will sit behind you.”**

**  
**

**Although still in shock at the sight of the costumed man, Buck didn’t even hesitate.It was obvious that Zorro was here for the purpose that he had stated.If he said time was of the essence, then that must mean the opening of the vortex could only be held for a short time.Zorro mounted behind him and gathered the reins.**

**  
**

**“Señor Buck,” Reyes said.His eyes glowed with gratitude and wonder.“I cannot thank you enough.I will never miss Mass and will always put something into the box for the poor.”**

**  
**

**“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Buck said, reaching down and taking a few coins for souvenirs.“Do you mind?”Reyes shook his head.“Dance a dance with Señorita Bastinada for me.And let Don Diego take care of your money.He seems pretty smart to me.”**

**  
**

**“Sí, he is and a good friend, too,” Reyes said, smiling.**

**  
**

**“We must go,” Zorro reminded the two men.**

**  
**

**“Have a good trip back with your angel friends,” Reyes said. “And again, gracias _.”_**

****

**_  
_ __**

**Buck laughed as Zorro kicked the black stallion into a gallop and swept out of the pueblo _._**

**  
**

**The gait of the large stallion was smooth and Buck had no problem at all, his body feeling the rhythm of the horse.He thought he might possibly get to really like this mode of transportation, but not here and not now.**

**  
**

**“I hope your friend is still there, Señor Buck.She seemed very anxious.”**

**  
**

**“If she can, she will,” Buck replied, feeling the wind take his words away almost before he said them.“Tell Don Diego that I am sorry that I cannot get his clothes back to him.”**

**  
**

**“I think that the clothes of an ‘angel’ will be a good trade,” Zorro said with a laugh.**

**  
**

**“Uh, he told you about that?”Even while he was conversing, Buck was trying to remember the rest of what he knew about the Zorro of his childhood, but it was hard concentrating.**

**  
**

**“Yes,” Zorro replied.“He does not mind.He was happy to help in a small way to make Corporal Reyes’ dreams come true.”**

**  
**

**“And he will help the good corporal keep the money he has received, right?”**

**  
**

**“Yes.”**

**  
**

**As they rode, Buck’s curiosity got the best of him.Here he was riding with a man dressed in black, someone he had thought to be a figment of someone’s imagination, a man disguised in a mask.“When I was growing up, there were stories of the Spanish American hero called Zorro, a man dressed in a mask like a common bandit, but I thought it was all made up.”**

**  
**

**“I have been called many things, but usually not ‘common.’Maybe in your world, I am fiction, but here I am very real, señor, and fighting to uphold the rights of those who are unable to fight for themselves.”**

**  
**

**“I always thought the disguise was a nice choice.I bet you scare the bejeebers out of your enemies when you sneak up on them.”**

**  
**

**Zorro laughed.“I suppose that is one way to put it.”**

**  
**

**Soon they had arrived at the beach and Buck slid off the powerful horse.He saw Wilma waiting, gesturing for him to hurry.Behind her, the open mouth of the vortex glowed with a reddish light.Buck turned to Zorro and clasped his hand.“Thank you, Señor Zorro.And please, thank Don Diego for me as well.Tell him to give the señorita my regards when she and Corporal Reyes are married.”**

**  
**

**“I will.Now go.Your own señorita is very, very anxious,” Zorro said with a grin.**

**  
**

**“ My señorita?” Buck repeated.“Don’t let Wilma hear you say that,” he added flippantly.He grinned and then dashed to where Wilma was waiting.**

**  
**

**“About time you made it.And what in the world are you wearing?” she asked as she took his hand and jerked him toward the portal.**

**  
**

**“Don’t ask.I’ll explain later,” he said, as they stepped into the center of the vortex and were swallowed up.**

**  
**

**Zorro waved, but Buck Rogers and the strange portal were already gone.**

**  
**


	5. Reyes Takes a Vacation

**  
**

**Standing in the now cleared out laboratory, only the dying vortex behind them to show what had been there the day before, Wilma more carefully perused her companion.“Nice outfit, Buck,” she said, fingering the gold braid on one sleeve.“Where did you get it?And why?”**

**  
**

**“From Zorro’s friend.”He smiled at the memory of the past day.“And it was to enable me to play a little game of bruha with a local rancher.”**

**  
**

**“Bruha?”**

**  
**

**Buck explained the game and what happened.“Been eons since I have played such a rollicking game of poker.Well, the local version anyway.”**

**  
**

**Wilma just shook her head at her sometimes exasperating friend.“You do realize that you could have been stranded there with that ‘rollicking game’.**

**  
**

**“Yeah, that thought occurred to me,” Buck said sheepishly.“But I must at admit, Zorro’s appearance made this whole thing seem a bit surreal,” Buck added.**

**  
**

**“Yes, he gave me quite a scare at first.He doesn’t know how close he came to being knocked cold with a laser.Luckily, he mentioned your name before that happened.”**

**  
**

**“Kind of took me by surprise, too.I thought he was some fictional character until he swooped down to help me.”Buck thought a moment.How in the world would a rich and casual young man like Diego know someone like this Zorro, whose wanted poster he had seen on the way out of the tavern?This whole adventure was weird and unbelievable.He tried to remember the stories from his childhood while at the same time being grateful there had been a couple of people who spoke his language.And he was particularly glad that the same people were so willing to help him get back home.Especially since he had totally misjudged the time frame of his rescue.He had thought, when he had not seen Diego after the beginning of the card game, that it would be the young rancher who would meet Wilma.“You were met by just Zorro?No one else?”**

**  
**

**“Yes.He’s the only one.He asked my name and said he was there on your behalf.”**

**  
**

**_So where was Diego?_ Buck thought.“Interesting coincidence, though,” he mused aloud. **

**  
**

**“What?”**

**  
**

**Buck recalled his and Zorro’s conversation from the back of his horse.He pondered.Finally he asked, “I wonder where Don Diego was after he told Zorro….”**

**  
**

**“Don Diego?Who’s Don Diego?” Wilma asked and was puzzled by the look of surprised comprehension on Buck’s face.**

**  
**

**It dawned on him.Like Bruce Wayne and Batman.Clark Kent and Superman. _Diego is Zorro_.Now he remembered the rest of the story from his childhood.He laughed, then answered Wilma’s question.“The one who gave me the nice clothes.Zorro’s friend.” _And how!_ he thought, still thinking how ironic it was that Reyes had taken him to probably the only person who could have possibly helped him return home under the circumstances.**

**  
**

**  
**

**=========================**

**  
**

**  
**

**Reyes stood watching the retreat of his friend and the bandit, Zorro, long after they could not be seen anymore.Then he gazed into the basket.The first stars of the night sparkled on the top layer of coins.He realized just what he had in his basket and almost dropped it in shock.If he had heard rightly, there were over two hundred pesos in there.That was a king’s ransom, the corporal thought.That would not only buy a new suit, but also the means to treat Señorita Bastinada to some of those things to which she was accustomed.**

**  
**

**“Corporal, did I hear Don Guillermo correctly?” Sergeant Garcia asked from behind him.**

**  
**

**Without thinking, Reyes clutched the basket tighter to his chest.“About what, Sergeant?”**

**  
**

**“That he gave all his money to you?”**

**  
**

**“Sí, he did,” Reyes said, his voice hesitant.**

**  
**

**“Why would he do that?” Garcia asked.**

**  
**

**“He liked me,” Reyes said.“He said so.”**

**  
**

**“But what are you going to do with it?”**

**  
**

**“I am going to give it to Don Diego,” Reyes replied.**

**  
**

**“Don Diego doesn’t need the money,” Garcia said with a sigh.He was hoping for a bottle of wine.Keeping order among all those card players was thirsty work.**

**  
**

**“Don Diego said he would keep it for me.I am saving it,” Reyes explained.**

**  
**

**“Why would you want to save all of that?”**

**  
**

**“Because someday I will want to marry a nice señorita and have a house of my own and horses and cows,” Reyes said, his voice wistful.**

**  
**

**“But who would marry a soldier?”**

**  
**

**Reyes shrugged.“Maybe someone who likes two hundred pesos?”**

**  
**

**“Baboso!You can’t buy a house with two hundred pesos,” Garcia said in exasperation.He was getting very thirsty.**

**  
**

**“Maybe, maybe not, but I am going to use this money to court a nice señorita.”**

**  
**

**“Corporal, let us take a few of these pesos and buy some wine to celebrate your good fortune.Then I can take care of the rest for you,” Garcia suggested.**

**  
**

**“Maybe we can buy a bottle of wine, Sergeant, but Don Diego is going to take care of my money for me.He promised,” Reyes insisted.**

**  
**

**Garcia sighed.“Am I not your best friend?Would I not take care of your money for you?”**

**  
**

**“Yes, Sergeant, you are.And you would take very good care of my money.”**

**  
**

**“Then why don’t you let me keep it safe in the comandante’s office?”**

**  
**

**“You would not want me to hurt Don Diego’s feelings, would you, Sergeant?” Reyes asked, thanking his patron saint for that bit of insight.**

**  
**

**Garcia scratched his chin. Well, since the corporal put it that way, he supposed not.“I see what you mean, Corporal,” Garcia said with a sigh.“Let me at least help you guard the money until you take it to Don Diego.”**

**  
**

**“Gracias, Sergeant.”**

**  
**

**  
**

**  
**

**Four months later, Diego did indeed give Buck’s regards to the new Señora Reyes.**

**  
**

**“But Diego, that nice friend of Juan’s really needn’t have gone to so much trouble.I would have married Juan anyway, if only he would have asked.He is such a dear, sweet man,” the former Señorita Bastinada said with a soft smile.She looked at her new husband, a man who could dance with her, a man who did not tell her things just to flatter her out of her money, a man who made her feel young and desirable again.He was giving Pogo a cup of punch, and she watched while he filled up another cup for her.**

**  
**

**“Yes,” Diego said,“but sometimes a little confidence makes things happen more smoothly, Señora Reyes,” Diego replied.The newly married businesswoman nodded and soon joined her husband in another dance, while Sergeant Garcia sat glumly in a chair watching……..**

**  
**


End file.
